My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Results tagged ‘ Pop Foul ’

The Phils’ offense and Cole Hamels did everything right to win before the back end of the bullpen had a massive failure in the ninth which help led to an extra inning lost as the Phils lose a shoot out with the Twins, 13-10.

The Twins took a quick 2-0 lead as, with two men on and with one man out, Justin Morneau hits a two-run single, scoring Denard Span, who had earlier walked, went to second base on Orlando Hudson’s single, and then moved up to third on Brian Schneider’s pass ball, and Hudson, who had earlier singled and then moved up to second on Schneider’s pass ball. The Twins would make it a 3-0 lead two batters later as, with runners on the corners, thanks to Phils’ starter Cole Hamels’ throwing error to second on Michael Cuddyer ‘s grounder back to the mound, when he had the time to make a good throw to Chase Utley to start a possible double play, which sent Morneau to third, while Cuddyer was safe at first on the force attempt, as Delmon Young hits an RBI double, scoring Morneau, while sending Cuddyer to third. The Phils then came back in their half of the first. With two men on and with nobody out, Utley hits a two-run triple, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier singled, and had moved up to second on Placido Polanco’s walk, and Polanco, who had just walked, cutting the Twins’ lead to 3-2. The Phils then tied the game up at three-all as, with a runner on third, and now with one man out, Utley scored on Jayson Werth’s sacrifice fly pop foul to right, 4-unassisted, beating Hudson’s throw to the plate, as it got cut off before being sent towards the plate. The Phils took the lead in the second as Wilson Valdez hits a lead-off home run to left, his first home run of the year, giving the Phils a 4-3 lead. Four batters later, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, Utley hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Hamel, who had earlier doubled, and had gone to third on Polanco’s double, making it a 5-3 Phils’ lead. Ryan Howard then made it a 7-3 Phils’ lead as he hit a two-run shot to center, his fourteenth home run of the season, knocking in Polanco. The Phils then made it 8-3 in the third as Raul Ibanez hits a lead-off home run to center, his fifth home run of the season. As the Phils’ bat were showing that they were back, Cole Hamels took control of the game from the second inning until he was taken out after the seventh inning, giving up only two more hits after getting out of a based loaded jam in the first, a lead-off home run to Morneau in the sixth, his fourteenth home run of the year, making it an 8-4 Phils’ lead, and a lead-off single to Nick Punto in the seventh, striking out seven, before being relieved. In the bottom of the seventh, the Phils’ made it 9-4 as Werth hits a solo home run, his twelfth home run of the season. The Phils then went into the top of the ninth with what looked like a commanding five runs lead, when the bullpen imploded. With one man on, and with nobody out, pinch hitter Jim Thome hits a pinch hit two-run bomb to center field, scoring Young, who had earlier singled, to make it a 9-5 Phils’ lead. Three batters later, with a runner on third and with one man out, Span hits an RBI single, scoring Punto, who had earlier walked, moved up to second on defensive indifference, and then went to third on Brad Lidge’s wild pitch, making it a 9-7 Phils’ lead. Three more batters later, with a runner on second, and now with two men out, the Twins tied the game up at nine-all as Joe Mauer hits a two-run home run, knocking in Span, who had earlier singled and then stole second. The Twins then took the lead in the tenth as pinch hitter Drew Butera hits a lead-off pinch hit home run, the first home run of his career, to make it a 10-9 Twins’ lead. The Phils tied it up at ten-all in their half of the tenth as, with two men out, pinch hitter Ross Gload hits a pinch hit home run. The Twins then took an 11-10 lead in the eleventh as, with runners on second and third and with two men out, Young, who the Phils did not intentionally walk to load the bases, hits an infield single, scoring Mauer, who had earlier walked, went to second when Morneau was intentionally walked, and then went to third on Joe Rauch’s sacrifice bunt, 3-unassistant, while Morneau, who was intentionally walked, and went to second on Rauch’s sac bunt, went to third. One batter later, the Twins took a 13-10 lead as, with two men on and still with two men out, Matt Tolbert hits an RBI double, scoring both Morneau and Young, before Tolbert is thrown out at third, 7-4-3. That would end up being the final score as, with a runner on second, Utley via a double, and with two men out, Rauch ended the game by striking out Howard swinging.

Cole Hamel receives a no-decision as he went seven innings, giving up four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out seven. J.C. Romero went two-thirds of an inning, getting out both men that he would face. Jose Contreras went a third of an inning, plus three batters, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk, striking out a batter. Brad Lidge receives his first blown save of the year as he pitches an inning, giving up two runs on two hits, as he strikes out one batter. Chad Durbin pitches an inning, as he gives up a run on four hits. Danys Baez took the lost as he gives up three runs on two hits and two walks, as he strikes out a batter. His record is now 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA. Kevin Slowey also receives a no-decision as he pitches only an inning and two-thirds, giving up seven runs on seven hits and a walk, while striking out two. Jeff Manship pitches four and one-thirds innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Brian Duensing pitches an inning, giving up a run on one hit. Matt Guerrier pitches two scoreless innings, giving up just two hits, while striking out four. Jon Rauch receives his third blown save of the year before picking up the win, as he pitches two innings, giving up a run on two hits, while striking out one. His record is now 2-1 with an ERA of 2.57.

The Phils had fourteen hits, with Chase Utley leading the team with three hits, a single, a double and a triple, a home run short of the cycle, knocking in three runs, one on a sac fly. He was followed by Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez, who both had two hits apiece, with Polanco’s hits being a single and a double, while Ibanez’s hits were also a single and a double, knocking in a run. Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Brian Schneider, Wilson Valdez, Cole Hamels and pinch hitter Ross Gload had the other seven Phils’ hits, with Victorino, Schneider and Hamels’ hits being singles, while Howard, Werth, Valdez and pinch hitter Gload’s hits were home runs, with Howard’s being a two-run home run, while Werth, Valdez and Gload’s were solo shots, while Werth knocked in two runs, with the other one coming via a sac fly. The offense’s power surge was sadly wasted by the bullpen’s late inning implosion.

The Phils (35-31, 3rd NL East) finish their three-games series with the Twins (39-29, 1st AL Central) with an afternoon game, already in progress, with the Phils trailing 4-1.

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